Teresa Hunter: Cameron's ideas on catching frauds sound a bit fishy

WHAT do politicians and fish have in common? They both struggle to get off the hook after they open their mouths.

Take Prime Minister David Cameron's threat to use credit reference agencies to crack down on benefit fraud. It was another load of pollocks.

To prevent people working and claiming benefits, taxpayers will pay credit reference agencies to share financial information they hold about them.

But they don't hold any information which would prove a benefit claimant has more cash than he or she admits. True, they hold address data, which may show that someone claiming lone parent benefits may have a partner living with them.

They also have information about the credit cards and bank accounts we have, but not the transactions being conducted. Probably most telling, they can access satellite TV records and mobile phone records.

But to go on proper fishing trips into our bank accounts, they would have to get the agreement of the banks. Normally, I'd say they haddock a chance. But, right now, with the government owning two banks, plus a big stake in a third, and propping up most of the rest, I wouldn't rule it out.

Instead of spying on the whole country, a more sensible approach might be to ask for claimants' bank statements at, say, six-monthly intervals. The rest of us have to produce this documentation whenever we want finance.

Meanwhile, I'm glad I'm not a Scott or a Brown, given their record of mixing people up. Then, again, I'm hardly the only Hunter in town.

Complain in time

The Clydesdale mortgage fiasco shows no sign of disappearing any time soon as unhappy borrowers have begun taking complaints to the Financial Ombudsman.

If you remember, Clydesdale miscalculated borrowers' mortgage repayments over the last couple years, as interest rates fell. This has led to underpayments, which the bank is now attempting to claw back, leading in some cases to a doubling of mortgage bills. Given that the mistake was all the Clydesdale's, it's hard to see how the Ombudsman cannot order compensation to the customers. I'd complain, before it's too late.

Pension switch

There is a nifty little note in the appendices of a 51-page document from the Department of Work and Pensions, or should that be the Department Witter and Tension given the myriad of documents it is currently shelling out. It says: "References to transfers between contracted-out DB and contracted out DC schemes have been removed, as this will no longer be possible post abolition."

Not only buried, but totally unintelligible. The clue is in the words "post abolition". Without telling us, they have decided to abolish the freedom, to switch out of your company final salary scheme, into a personal pension, so you can release cash.

Now, moving out of a final salary scheme has little to recommend it. But there are circumstances where not to do so is also madness.

If your scheme is in trouble, and you are in line for a decent pension, you should get out. Similarly, if your company scheme provides a spouse's pension, but you have none, nor are likely ever to have, then you can cash in and enjoy the money yourself. Someone who is terminally ill, or about to lose their home would also be justified in raiding their pension.

Closing this loophole would stop anyone with huge value in a final salary scheme, cashing most of it in, once they retire, under the new regime abolishing compulsory annuities.

Pack backtracking

Property purchases in the UK climbed 19 per cent in June compared with May and were up 14 per cent on a year ago. First-time buyers also rose 20 per cent, the Council of Mortgage Lenders says. Estate agents south of the Border say this is down to the abolition of home information packs, the Scottish version of which is still with us.

We will have to wait another fortnight for the regional breakdown. Those figures will be most illuminating.

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